Minister resigned ‘with heavy heart’
Trudeau said the decision was “not consistent” with their recent conversations. But he swiftly pivoted to damage control, assuring veterans who now have a fourth minister in the post, and Indigenous people angry over Wilson-Raybould’s exit — she was the first Indigenous woman to hold the justice portfolio — that his government remains committed to both files.
The SNC-Lavalin affair is quickly mushrooming into the most serious controversy ever to face the Trudeau government.
A Commons justice committee is expected to vote Wednesday on an opposition motion to hold an inquiry into allegations that unnamed senior PMO officials pressured Wilson-Raybould to agree to defer criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in favour of a negotiated agreement, a heavy fine and other compliance measures.
Anthony Housefather, a Liberal MP from Montreal who chairs the justice committee, told the Star that Wilson-Raybould’s resignation “certainly escalates the issue and requires more clarity for Canadians.”
He said he was “leaning towards” voting in favour of a committee inquiry, but didn’t want to prejudge the outcome of the day’s debate.
In a letter she wrote to the prime minister and made public Tuesday, Wilson-Raybould said she resigned “with a heavy heart,” but did not publicly offer reasons why she was quitting cabinet. She did not quit as Vancouver-Granville MP, and as of Tuesday night she remained a member of Trudeau’s Liberal caucus. But she said she has hired a lawyer — a former Supreme Court of Canada judge — to advise her on what she can say publicly.
Until now she has remained silent, claiming solicitor-client privilege prevents her from commenting on the controversy
Her stunning departure and the government’s efforts at damage control are seen as a blow to Trudeau’s efforts at reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous people.
“I am concerned about the many unanswered questions about Jody Wilson-Raybould’s departure and this is echoed by many First Nations across the country,” said AFN national chief Perry Bellegarde.
Wilson-Raybould quit a day after federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion formally opened a probe into allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office pressured the former minister — allegations the PMO has denied.
The RCMP, through a spokesperson, continued Tuesday to say only that it is “aware of this matter but will not further comment at this point.”
Just a day before, Trudeau declared he had “full confidence” in his former justice minister.
He admitted he did indeed speak to her last fall about the SNC-Lavalin prosecution, but he told reporters Wilson-Raybould “confirmed” to him in a private conversation in recent days that he had never personally pressured her, and told her the decision was “hers alone.” He suggested the fact she remained in cabinet showed the confidence was mutual.
By Tuesday morning, that confidence was shattered.
Trudeau held an emergency conference call with the rest of his cabinet Tuesday morning to inform others of her decision and named Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan as acting minister of Veterans Affairs, meaning no immediate cabinet shuffle.
Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis Chief Bob Chamberlin, vicepresident of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said Wilson-Raybould’s resignation “makes all the words and rhetoric extremely hollow now,” he said.
“This is like the cherry on top of a really, really rotten pie of reconciliation.”
Opposition MPs charge that Wilson-Raybould was bumped from the justice post because she resisted PMO pressure to cut a sweetheart deal for SNC-Lavalin.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer demanded the Liberal government preserve all documents in the affair, including emails, text messages and handwritten notes. He said Trudeau should waive any claim of confidentiality over his discussions with Wilson-Raybould to allow her to speak, and should agree to testify if called before the justice committee.
Scheer said the idea that politicians or officials in the PMO or government departments “were exerting pressure and influence to change an outcome in a criminal proceeding strikes at the very core of our rule of law and our democratic institutions and the independence of our justice system … It’s essential that Canadians receive answers to this immediately in full view of the public.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on the Liberal government to support the call for a Commons committee to investigate the matter, and “to allow Ms. Wilson-Raybould to speak about this affair and to work with the justice committee to get answers.”
“I am concerned about the many unanswered questions about Jody Wilson-Raybould’s departure.” PERRY BELLEGARDE AFN NATIONAL CHIEF